Dad's Tour of Duty WWII

Honoring My Father
George H. Hitz
1922 - 2002

7th Army, 103rd Cactus Division, Signal Company

In 1998, I asked my dad to summarize his service during WWII for a paper I was writing. I was surprised to find out that upon his discharge, after serving a tour of duty for 3 years, Dad had earned the rank of communications sergeant in the 7th Army, 103rd Division. He also only mentioned it after I asked specifically about his rank. He was a humble man who did a lot for others as well as to honor those that served, especially those that didn't return. Dad very graciously obliged my request and endured my interruptions and peppering of questions for an afternoon while I typed out his statements about his service that began after he was drafted in 1942. Also I found information in the book, 103rd Infantry Division, by Harold Branton. Below is an excerpt from that paper...

After landing in France, and seeing much action, General George S. Patton chose the 103rd Division for an important mission. He thought they were the most outstanding division in the 7th Army. It was the 103rd that broke through the Siegfried Line in the 7th Army which was a fortress for the German forces. (Adolph Hitler Visits the Seigfried Line) After this success the 103rd was moved North 75 miles and relieved the 6th Armored Division and soundly defeated the Germans at that battle which was known as "The Battle of the Bitsche Bulge" (December 16, 2014 was the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge). After this encounter the 45th Division relieved the 103rd that then went on to establish what is referred to as a "winter defensive line." According to George [my Dad], "Due to the excellent leadership of the regimental commanders, the Germans attempts to encircle the division were stopped." The German's had Tiger tanks that used a lot of petro - they cushioned the noise of the tanks with straw. It allowed them to surprise the American troops. He said the German planes were always attacking too.

When Germany invaded Poland some of the poor souls they captured were forced to work in munition factories creating bombs for the Third Reich. George said many times that he was eternally grateful to the Polish people. One of the shells that landed under his truck did not go off. He had heard of how the Polish Resistance took great risks sabotaging the production line of explosives rendering them ineffective. That risk saved his and the lives of several other soldiers in the truck with him that night. Click here to read of these efforts.

George went on to say that the accomplishments of the 103rd were many. They were the first division to penetrate the Siegfried Lineand also cross over into Germany. But one of their successes stood out among the rest. The 103rdwas able to prevent the German army from giving Strasbourg to Hitler as a Christmas present. Hitler in a rage announced to the Germans he was placing a death sentence on all members of the 103rd division. George said that the men of the 103rd laughed at Hitler’s tantrum. They went on and captured many prisoners and kept the Germans from crossing the Rhine River. The division then crossed the river and captured Innsbruck, the fourth largest city in Austria. Linking up with the 5th Army at Brenner Pass ended the war for the 103rd Division. The Cactus Division received three battle stars and many other awards from other countries. George remarked, "There was a lot of champagne and celebrating...We couldn't believe it was finally over."

Click here for Time magazine article, Battle of Germany: To The Siegfried Line, Sept. 11, 1944

In a letter my Dad wrote to me while I was on a high school retreat, he said that the letters he received from his mother during the war helped immensely. She spoke a great deal of faith and prayer. He relied upon his faith and prayer to see him through these dark days. Her letters were always reassuring and helped him to remain steadfast. He received one every day that mail was delivered. Like so many families during this time, Dad was one of three sons that my grandmother had fighting in this war. I never knew her, she passed away before I was born. I know through my dad though, that she was a very faithfully strong individual who endured a great deal in her lifetime. All three sons returned home - alive, after the war. The 103rd launched on October 6, 1944 from New York and arrived in Marseilles, France on October 20, 1944. Dad told my brother George once that as their ship sailed away from New York he kept his eyes fixed on the Statue of Liberty till he could no longer see it and all the while wondering if he'd ever see it again...

The United States Holocaust Museum Summary about the 103rd Division

Established in 1942, the 103rd Infantry Division landed in southern France in late October 1944, a few months after the Allied invasion of Western Europe on D-Day (June 6). From the port of Marseille, the “Cactus” division advanced northward, eventually crossing into Germany in December 1944. The swift German offensive into the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge that month forced the unit to take up defensive positions in the area of Alsace-Lorraine. In March 1945, the 103rd advanced into the Rhineland, then moved southward into Bavaria. On May 3, 1945, the division captured the city of Innsbruck in Austria.

As the 103rd moved into Bavaria, its troop’s uncovered one of the Nazi sub camps attached to the Kaufering camp complex in the Landsberg area.

The 103rd Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the U.S. Army’s Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1985.

Casualty figures for the 103rd Infantry Division, European theater of operations

Total battle casualties: 4,558

Total deaths in battle: 834

Division nickname

The 103rd Infantry Division, the “Cactus” division, is so called after the 103rd’s shoulder patch, a cactus in a gold circle. The cactus is representative of the states whose troops formed the unit in the early 1920s: Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Roy's son, Ron Smith who is a veteran of the Vietnam war - an Aircraft Communications Technician (Radio) and worked the KC-135's and B-52's during the TET offensive, shared this story that he remembers his Dad telling him many years ago.

"One really dark moonless night they were driving their deuce-and-one-half trucks in a tight convoy. They knew they were close to the front lines but didn't know how close. They had their headlights covered and he said they could hardly see anything at all - plus it was foggy. They were right on each others butts when suddenly all hell broke loose! He said there were trucks in front of him going all sorts of directions and explosions everywhere. The road was so narrow they couldn't turn around without going in the ditch. The Germans were machine gunning them to pieces as they were trying to get the trucks turned around. Somehow dad got his truck turned around and out of there. Somehow they had accidentally crossed the front lines into German held territory. He lost quite a few friends and fellow soldiers that night." Roy drove the supply trucks in the "Redball Express" during WW II. Roy's wife passed away in September 2009. She worked at the Oak Ridge Atomic Energy plant at age 19 during WWII. Click here for more pictures of Roy during his tour of duty.

*Thanks to Ron Smith for sharing this information about his dad.

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Dad's Furlough's Home

announcements in Jefferson City Tribune

May 6, 1943 and Feb 18, 1944

Members of Signal Company Laying and Repairing Communication Lines Dad was in Signal Company

Oct 20 1944

Arrived port of Marseilles, France.

Nov 1 1944

Left Marseilles, France

Nov 9 1944

Arrived Docelles, France

Nov 10 - 30 1944

Vosges Mountain Operations

Dec 1 - 4 1944

Battle of Selestat

Dec 5 - 23 1944

Alsace Campain

Dec 23 - Mar 15

Wissembourg and Sessenheim

1945

Top Hit Songs

1. On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe - Johnny Mercer

2. You Belong to My Heart - Bing Crosby / Zavier Cugat Orch

3. Rum and Coca-Cola - The Andrews Sisters

4. It Might as Well be Spring - Dick Haymes

5. My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - Doris Day / Les Brown

Jan 12 1945

US liberates Philippines

Jan 20 1945

Franklin D Roosevelt in for Fourth term as President

Mar 15 -31

1945

Saar - Palatinate

Apr 1945

Roosevelt dies, Truman becomes President

Apr 1 - May 5 1945

Danube River to Innsbruck,Austria

Apr 27 1956

Liberated Kaufering Concentration Camp near Landsberg Germany

May 6 1945

German Surrender at Innsbrook

Aug 24 1945

Moved to Landsberg, Germany pre-departure

See map below, for my attempt to follow the trail of the Cactus division- (the blue pins). Also the map shows my son Alex's destinations from summer of 2011 trip to Europe too (the yellow pins). Dad would have been so proud to know Alex visited some of the same areas. While Alex stayed with a family in Austria, he shared information with them about dad and his tour of duty. In particular, about how they took the town of Innsbruk back from the German army and liberated a concentration camp that was less than 150 miles from where they lived. Alex's group met with a holocaust survivor at Mauthausen. A concentration camp that held the record for executions and deaths.

My dad always spoke in general terms of all the men in his division. I, like my brothers and sisters, knew our Dad was a wonderful person with a lot of faith, courage and heart. We wish he were here so we could tell him how proud we are to be his children. All those who fought in this terrible war - either through combat or resistance or suffered at the hands of the Third Reich, are heroes. May they and all veterans never be forgotten. This was truly...the greatest generation.

Dad's Tour of Duty

St. Peter Catholic Church Veteran's Day Service 2012

Veterans Day and Memorial Day are both, a wonderful opportunity to remember them and their sacrifices. Dad along with 3 or 4 other men from our parish (St. Peter Catholic Church), began honoring the veterans of our country with a memorial service on Veteran's Day in the early 1960's. He continued to lead the planning of this effort every year thereafter until his passing in 2002. He must be very pleased to know it continues to be one of the larger Veteran's Day services held in central Missouri (50+ years since the first one) even now, more than 10 years after he went home to our Lord.

A Letter To the Editor from Dad about Veteran's DayJefferson City Tribune, November 10, 1976

Below is Dad presenting Flag to local police. He initiated a program for all of the police officers to wear the US Flag on their coat sleeve to encourage respect for law enforcement officers. "When the policeman is on duty he represents every American." George Hitz, March 15, 1970.

Dad worked at the Missouri State Library for 30 years upon retirement in 1984.
This picture was taken on November 29, 1956,
From left to right in the picture: Polley Bignell, Reference librarian; George Hitz; Clara Goetz;Berhniece Snell.